and going out of the city into the suburban areas that are held by the free syrian army. what you can see is a deterioration in the position of the regime and the strain of war as well. will that result in and trying to somehow do a deal? i do not know. but i know that a political deal is the only real choice the syrians have. if they do not get that, they face a long and bloody war. >> today, we have the american and russian foreign ministers meeting with the u.n. envoy to syria at a conference in ireland. russia has been a key player. do you understand whether the russians are getting closer to a western position when it comes to assad's future? >> if they are common their remarks from the meeting did not seem to suggest that they were prepared to go the extra mile or make some kind of deal. the issue is the fact that the u.n. security council is paralyzed. paralyzed over this whole issue of syria. the western countries have one position. russia and china have another. both sides actually need to move. holding on to positions that do not work. and the absence of a secur